Convention of Constantinople (1888)

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The Convention of Constantinople is a treaty that determines the status of the Suez Canal under international law . It concerns the use of the Suez Canal and was signed by nine states in October 1888. It was about the then great powers France , German Empire , Austria-Hungary , Spain , United Kingdom , Italy , Netherlands , Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire . Seven more states later joined, including China and Japan .

According to Article I of the Convention, the free passage of merchant ships and warships of all flags is guaranteed in times of peace and war. The channel can be used under the same conditions. Certain restrictions apply to warships of warring states, for example passage without stopping and without supplies.

The channel is neutralized . Martial law may not be applied in its area, its ports and a three-mile zone before the exits. Any acts of war against the canal and its ancillary facilities are prohibited.

The Constantinople Convention still applies today. It is expressly designated as mandatory in the 1975 Egyptian Law No. 30 on the Organization of the Suez Canal Authority . The convention became particularly explosive during the Suez Crisis .

The idea of ​​neutralizing the canal was probably first raised by Metternich in letters to Muhammad Ali Pascha in 1838 and 1841 , and suggested by Lesseps in 1856 and again a few years later. In 1869 the French government and in 1870 a trade conference in Cairo and the British Admiralty dealt with the idea. The International Commission of 1873 also dealt with the subject. In 1877, the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire made the topic practical. When Great Britain occupied Egypt in 1882 , troops landed in Suez and Port Said and temporarily interrupted shipping. Formally, however, this was covered by a resolution of the viceroy. In 1883 Great Britain proposed an international agreement on the canal with no further consequences. In 1885, at the instigation of France, a conference was held in Cairo at which a draft was drawn up but not signed. In 1887 the draft was negotiated at a conference in Constantinople. Finally, the Constantinople Convention was signed on October 29, 1888, with the caveat that it would not come into force until after the British occupation of Egypt. The convention had its first practical test in 1904, when Russian warships in the war against Japan were able to sail unhindered through the Channel, although Japan was allied with Great Britain. In the course of the Entente cordiale with France on April 8, 1904, Great Britain declared that it would put the convention into force.

literature

  • Jean Allain: International Law in the Middle East: Closer to Power Than Justice. Ashgate Publishing, London 2004, ISBN 0-7546-2436-6 .
  • Thomas Barclay: Problems of International Practice and Diplomacy: With Special Reference to the Hague Conferences and Conventions and other General International Agreements. Boston Book Co., Boston 1907, OCLC 60736520 .
  • Kennett Love: Suez: The Twice-Fought War. McGraw Hill, New York 1969.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Convention of Constantinople: French and English treaty text at Wikisource
  2. ↑ The states are listed here in the same order as in the Convention.
  3. ↑ The terms Suez Canal and Suez Crisis are spelled with "s" here, as in the respective main articles
  4. ^ Law No. 30 of 1975: The Organization of the Suez Canal Authority. ( Memento of November 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on the Suez Canal Authority website
  5. ^ The Neutralization of the Suez Canal. In: Arnold T. Wilson: The Suez Canal. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, London 1939, pp. 89-93. Digitized on archive.org